In recent years, a movement has gained traction to replace incandescent light bulbs with lighting fixtures that employ more efficient lighting technologies as well as to replace relatively efficient fluorescent lighting fixtures with lighting technologies that produce a more pleasing, natural light. One such technology that shows tremendous promise employs light emitting diodes (LEDs). Compared with incandescent bulbs, LED-based light fixtures are much more efficient at converting electrical energy into light, are longer lasting, and are also capable of producing light that is very natural. Compared with fluorescent lighting, LED-based fixtures are also very efficient, but are capable of producing light that is much more natural and more capable of accurately rendering colors. As a result, lighting fixtures that employ LED technologies are expected to replace incandescent and fluorescent bulbs in residential, commercial, and industrial applications.
Unlike incandescent bulbs that operate by subjecting a filament to a desired current, LED-based lighting fixtures require electronics to drive one or more LEDs. The electronics generally include a power supply and special control circuitry to provide uniquely configured signals that are required to drive the one or more LEDs in a desired fashion. For a given lighting fixture, the control circuitry and the LEDs are paired together during manufacturing and are calibrated to ensure that the lighting fixture is able to provide light at a desired color, color temperature, brightness, or the like.